February 06, 2009

Fettuccine Carbonara with Fried Eggs

Bon Appétit (January 2009)

This pasta is from a mouth-watering feature in the January issue of Bon Appétit called "Anything With an Egg on Top." The photo of this carbonara -- served with a delectable, gooey fried egg -- looked so wonderful, it made us want to forget any healthy eating we were attempting to do in the New Year.

Maybe with so many people trying to eat right in the new year, Bon Appétit thought that showing the carbonara in all its fried egg glory was just too much for more delicate readers.

But we were willing to give it a try.

We love pasta carbonara. It's so richly satisfying, with the
sumptuous, comforting tastes of bacon and cheese. And we adore eggs in
every form. So we were sure to love this dish.

Seriously, what's not to love?

As it turns out, unfortunately, there's a lot not to love about this dish.

This pasta is a great big bowl of "meh."

The whole thing seemed underseasoned. Maybe there's not enough cheese in the recipe? Maybe we undersalted?

The fried egg, which seems so decadently naughty on top of (what should be) an already rich dish, fizzled. It didn't really add anything.

And the broccoli rabe was a twist on carbonara we were excited to try. But it ended up making the entire dish taste kind of stale and earthy (and not earthy in a good way).

If you're wanting to make carbonara, we recommend using Nigella Lawson's recipe, which we've made several times and love. In fact, the recipe was featured on the Solitary Sensations episode of her show. It may very well be the most comforting hour of television we've ever seen.

Preparation

Whisk
4 eggs, both cheeses, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl;
set aside. Cook pancetta in large nonstick skillet over medium heat
until crisp, about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to small
bowl. Reserve skillet with drippings.

Cook
pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until almost tender (about 3
minutes less than package directions); add broccoli rabe. Cook just
until broccoli rabe is crisp-tender and pasta is tender, about 3
minutes longer. Drain pasta-broccoli rabe mixture, reserving 1/2 cup
cooking liquid.

Heat
skillet with drippings over medium heat. Crack remaining 4 eggs into
skillet; sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until whites are
opaque, about 2 minutes. Carefully turn eggs over; cook just until
whites are set but yolks are still soft, about 1 minute longer. Remove
from heat.

Comments

Fettuccine Carbonara with Fried Eggs

Bon Appétit (January 2009)

This pasta is from a mouth-watering feature in the January issue of Bon Appétit called "Anything With an Egg on Top." The photo of this carbonara -- served with a delectable, gooey fried egg -- looked so wonderful, it made us want to forget any healthy eating we were attempting to do in the New Year.